Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new type of modular and mass-producible air vehicle shaped like a cruise missile: the Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT).
Known as the “comet,” the CMMT is designed to be a low-cost munition deployed in high volumes toward a single area to overwhelm enemy defenses or ensure the destruction of a high-value target.
It features a modular open systems architecture that enables subsystems like seekers, payloads, and engines to be reconfigured based on mission goals.
The firm developed the air vehicle using internal funding, where it is also flying two air-launched variants from the CMMT family of air vehicles: one launched from US Air Force fixed-wing aircraft and a smaller long-range system deployed from rotary-winged platforms.
Lockheed also showcased concept artwork of a ground-launched version fitted with a supplementary booster at the 2025 Air & Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium, where company executive Michael Rothstein shared that more tests are planned for the summer.
Cost-Effective Solution
The Bethesda-based company is proposing the CMMT as a low-cost solution to the US military’s need for affordable, mass-producible munitions, priced at around $150,000 per unit.
Around 2,500 of the weapons could be produced per year.
To keep costs down, the CMMT does not have stealth capabilities and builds on lessons from Lockheed’s 1LMX initiative to streamline and enhance the company’s processes and systems.
These features differentiate the CMMTs from Lockheed’s Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), where each unit costs around $1.5 million, limiting production of the precision-strike guided munitions.
JASSMs are also less modular and limited to fixed-wing aircraft.
Additionally, nine JASSMs can be deployed on a single pallet by an airlifter, which is lower than the 25 compact CMMT units that can fit on a single pallet.
This was discovered under the US Air Force’s Rapid Dragon program, where the service is exploring the possibility of deploying palletized munitions from existing airlifters, such as the C-130 and C-17.
However, the CMMTs are meant to complement the JASSM and other larger, more expensive missiles, where the latter can focus on tougher targets.
Similar cost-effective air vehicles are under development to boost US defense capabilities against adversaries, such as Anduril’s Barracuda-500 autonomous air vehicle, selected for the Enterprise Test Vehicle program.
